Why Oscar Will Prevail

The buzz in the boxing world is that Richard Schaefer has just resigned as CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, the company he cofounded and helped build with Oscar De La Hoya. Richard Schaefer is credited as being the mastermind behind the success of Golden Boy, with his help making it the powerhouse that has steamed rolled over its rival company Top Rank.

There is much speculation circulating around the internet about the reasons as to why Schaefer left, some of them being that Schaefer might have been tired of De La Hoya’s addiction with alcohol and cocaine, or that De La Hoya wants to work with Bob Arum and Schaefer is refusing to do work with Bob Arum, or that Schaefer see’s better opportunity working directly with Al Haymon. My opinion is that it’s a little of all three, and while many fans are speculating this as a hit to Oscar de la Hoya, I see this at as the opposite, things look brighter for Oscar then they do for anyone else. Below are a few points that I wanted to address and clear up.

1.)Golden Boy Promotion does not manage nor do they have an existing contract with many fighters managed by Al Haymon:

Many fans online are using this as the basis as to why Al Haymon has leverage against De Le Hoya, arguing that Al Haymon therefore owns and controls many of these fighters. First of all it is unclear as to what fighters are signed to Golden Boy and who are free agents managed by Al Haymon. But let’s assume that the likes of Danny Garcia, Paul Malignaggi, and Adrien Broner all signed one fight deals to Golden Boy Promotions without ever signing lengthy contracts to fight under Golden Boy Promotions. Let’s assume that we know this to by completely factual with Richard Schaefer playing a role in allowing Al Haymon to use his fighters to fight, using Golden Boy as the promoter but allowing them to only fight under one fight per deal contracts; to many people including myself this sounds like back-door deal that Schaefer and Haymon might have had going, Schaefer giving Haymon more ownership rights to the fighters without giving Golden Boy any ownership rights (apparently De La Hoya didn’t know that many of Al Haymon fighters were not signed to Golden Boy). This sounds like a conflict of interest, and if we as fans can see that Schaefer was involved in a behind the doors deal with another boxing company then Oscar De La Hoya has a very strong case against both Schaefer and Al Haymon based on conflict of interest in Schaefer’s part who would have sabotaged the interest of his own company to favor another boxing company.

2.)Al Haymon and Richard Schaefer are going to start their own promoting company:

This sounds good and all except for one main key component that many fans are ignoring. Richard Schaefer is also a stake holder for Golden Boy Promotions. Again, if Richard Schaefer is a stake holder for Golden Boy Promotions then it does not seem realistic that he would just break off and start his own boxing company because it would be a conflict of interest. Let’s assume that Richard Schaefer does in fact sell off his interest in the company and starts fresh, we still haven’t figured out point 1, which will most likely be settled in court. If this issue goes to court which it probably will, Schaefer might have more to worry about then who owns the promoting rights to these fighters managed by Al Haymond. The pair might have many legal problems to look forward to if it is determined that Schaefer sabotaged his own company.

3.)What if Oscar De La Hoya is successful in being able to work with Top Rank in co-promoting events?

In all honestly all Oscar De La Hoya needs to do is sit down next to Manny Pacquiao and take a picture with him and the Golden Boy stocks will automatically go up. The language often used by Richard Schaefer in regards to Bob Arum and Top Rank is, “We don’t need him”, however, If Oscare De La Hoya unites with Bob Arum then the tables turn entirely. The unity between Golden Boy and Top Rank will mean fights like Maidana vs Provodnikov, Abner Mares vs Nonito Donaire, Khan vs Pacquiao, etc. Let’s keep in mind that even if the courts decide that all the fighters under Al Haymon are in fact free-agents which I doubt that they are, Al Haymon does not have the ability to promote these fighters in any capacity.

Assuming that this where to happen, imagine if Haymon simple traps his fighters into not fighting with Golden Boy Promotions then potentially Haymon could sabotage these fighters careers by not allowing them to fight period. Imagine fighters like Danny Garcia or Adrien Broner either not being allowed to fight or getting bad deals because they do not have a good promoting company to go too.

4.)In conclusion;

Fans have to keep in mind that Oscar De La Hoya was the FIRST fighter to become a successful boxing promoter. We as fans of the sports and fighters themselves have to recognize what De La Hoya has been able to accomplish. Most of what led to some of these problems where shady promoters like Don King and Bob Arum who have never been in the ring before, that’s what made De La Hoya an exception. We as fans need to be careful with promoters who have never been in the ring before.

The model that Al Haymon was using was extremely successful but also very shortsighted because their business model revolves around 1 man.. Floyd Mayweather. What happens when Mayweather runs out of creditable fighters to fight and draw big numbers… it might have happened already. Or when Mayweather retires. Golden Boy Promotions has the MGM Grand booked for Mexican Independence Day this September, and Mayweather will most likely not be fighting…. Mayweather also has a contract with Showtime to deliver!?

I think that Oscar is going to the end the Cold War with Top Rank. We should expect great fights to be made in the near future. I have believe that in regards to Richard Schaefer leaving…. I’m willing to bet that Oscar De La Hoya finally put his foot and removed Schaefer from the company, putting the longevity of boxing before his own personal vendetta against Bob Arum.

Lastly, the one thing that will hurt Schaefer and Haymon the most is that if Golden Boy and Top Rank actually do unite, we will learn the true reason why Mayweather never fought Pacquiao.

Hector Gonzalez is a writer, hip hop artist and proud father originally from San Jose, and now is
based out of Southern California. He has been published in numerous
books and publications and also has performed across the U.S as an emcee
by the name of "Hegotistic".